The invention is in the art of wheelchair construction having seat, frame and foot rest assemblies connected together without welds. Main wheels and caster wheels connected to the frame support the wheelchair on a floor or similar surface.
Conventional wheelchairs have metal frames of tubular members secured together with welds. The welding of wheelchair frames is labor intensive and an expensive fabrication operation. The parts of the welded wheelchair frames are not adjustable to allow for different wheelchair sizes and dimensions. Separate frames must be constructed for different wheelchair sizes and shapes. Welded wheelchair frames are not repaired in the user""s location as they are sent to a welding shop or manufacturer for repairs and part replacements. A replacement wheelchair must be available to accommodate the wheelchair user.
The wheelchair of the invention has releasable connecting parts that allow for wheelchair length and height adjustments and part replacement. Welded joints are not used in the construction of the wheelchair. The wheelchair has a frame assembly comprising a pair of longitudinal beams connected with cross links. Front and rear supports are releasable connected to the beams. Large wheels rotatably mount on the rear supports are usable to hand drive the wheelchair. Caster wheels attached to the front supports allow the wheelchair to turn on a surface. The beams support a foot rest assembly usable to accommodate the legs and feet of a person seated on the wheelchair.
An embodiment of the wheelchair has seat, frame, and foot rest assemblies that are releasably connected with supports without welding members together. The frame assembly has longitudinal beams having longitudinal grooves accommodating connecting members joined to the supports. The beams are extruded metal members. The connecting members cooperate with expansion devices to hold the connecting members in fixed positions on the beams. The expansion devices are expansion bars that are compressed with nut and bolt assemblies to force the connecting members into tight fit or non-moving engagement with the beams. The tight fit engagement of the connecting members with the beams eliminates relative movement and resulting noise or rattle. The expansion devices can be released to permit removal of the supports from the beams for repair or replacement. The supports are easy to assemble on the beams. The supports have downwardly directed plates that accommodate transverse axles for the wheels of the wheelchair. The plates have vertically spaced holes for the axles whereby the wheels of the wheelchair can be vertically adjusted relative to the frame assembly. The beams are connected with a cross linkage that allows the wheelchair to be folded to a side-by-side position.